Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 17.djvu/258

Rh 246 NATIONAL DEBT 3,063,135 respectively. In 1727 the capital had increased to 53,979,000, while by reduction of interest the annual charge had diminished to 2,360,930. Partly by the operation of the sinking fund, the debt in 1739 had decreased by upwards of 7 millions, but the wars which followed left it at the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748 at the sum of 77,488,940. By the end of the Seven Years War, however, in 1763, the debt had risen to 133,287,940, besides terminable annuities, and the annual charge to 5,032,732. At the commencement of the American War, 1775, the debt had fallen to 126,842,800, but as a result of that war this was more than doubled, and the burden had grown to 273,000,000, including the capitalized value of terminable annuities. After a diminution of about 10 millions during the nine years peace, the long French wars, which terminated in 1815, left the country burdened with a debt of over 900 millions, at an annual charge of 32,645,618. With various fluctuations during the next forty years, the debt gradually diminished to a little over 800 millions. The two years of war with Russia cost upwards of 30 millions, and in 1857 the capital sum had risen to 838,900,000 and the annual charge to 28,681,177. In 1870 it had fallen again to 800 millions, which in 1883 had diminished to 756,376,519, with an annual charge of 29,678,672, including terminable annuities and the charge there on, as well as the sinking fund. As we have already pointed out, the actual capital of the British debt does not represent by any means the sums actually received by the state. During the past and the early years of the present century enormous sums were borrowed at a price far below par, the difference adding many millions to the actual burden of the debt. At the same time some relief has been obtained from this burden by judicious conversions into lower- priced stock and the creation of terminable annuities. For the relations between the South Sea Company and the Bank of England and the British national debt, we must refer to the articles BANK ING and FINANCE. In the above estimates we have taken no account of the indebtednesses of cities, counties, and other local divisions, which can scarcely be regarded as included in the debt of the nation as a whole. Were these sums added they would increase the total amount of the debt by about 150 millions. France. One peculiarity if the national debt of France is that it is reckoned, not according to capital, but according to rente or interest ; so that any estimates based on rente must be regarded as approximate. Another peculiarity is the minute distribution of the consolidated debt among a multitude of creditors, most of whom are French ; this arises from the fact that the shares in French debt may be subdivided into minute parts, and an investor may thus purchase a few francs worth of rente. Thus in 1883 the number of holders of rente was over 4,000,000. The debt of France can be traced as far back as 1375, and at the death of Louis XIV. in 1715 it is estimated to have amounted to a capital of 124,000,000, though this was arbitrarily reduced in the following year to 80 millions. The republican Government of 1793 cancelled nearly the whole of the then existing debt, reducing it to a capital of 32,000,000, with a rente of 1,600,000. During the empire, notwithstanding Napo leon s extensive wars, the debt had only grown to 70,645,000, including a floating debt of 20 millions. Under the, Bourbons, what with war-levies and constant deficits, it grew rapidly, and in 1830 stood at 141,770,000. To this the Orleans dynasty added 40 millions, leaving the debt in 1848 at 182 millions. During the four years of the republic this grew to 245,250,000, while the enormous deficits and the wars of the second empire raised it to 550,000,000 in December 1870. The further cost of the German war, with its enormous indemnity and the foreign occupation of 1870- 3, added upwards of 300 millions to this. Since then the French debt has steadily grown, and in 1883 stood (capitalizing all classes of debt) at about 1,000,000,000, with an annual charge of 52,722,300, the largest in the world. Austria. In 1763, at the end of the Seven Years War, Austria had a debt of only 15,000,000 ; but, as it is a country of almost constant deficits, this sum has rapidly increased. In 1815 it was 82,500,000; in 1830, 108 millions; in 1848, 125 millions; in 1862, after the French war, 252,671,860, to which the war with Prussia added 40 millions in 1866. Since then it has grown apace, and in 1883 stood at 380,000,000, including floating debt, paper-money, and Austria s special liabilities, amounting to 105,700,000, but ex cluding the special debt of Hungary, which amounted to over 104 millions ; Hungary, besides, contributes three- tenths to the interest of the common debt, this interest in 1883 amounting to 12,024,070, in addition to over 2 millions for Austria s special debt. Germany. The debt of Prussia in 1800 was only 5,250,000, which as a result of the French wars grew by 1820 to 31 millions. By 1842 10 millions were paid off, but in 1866 it had risen to 42 millions, partly from deficits, partly from war preparations, and partly from money sunk in the construction of railways. The war with Austria, and the annexations in 1866, raised it by 1870 to 56,400,000. Since then it has nearly doubled, and in 1882 had reached the sum of 102,984,071, with an annual charge of 4,381,032. Much of the debt of Prussia has, however, been contracted for railways and the development of the resources of the country, and is in fact nearly covered by the revenue of the state-railways, domains, and mines. The German empire, as such, had no debt at the time of its re- establishment in 1870, though one has since been created ; in 1883 the total funded debt was 18, 500, 000 at 4 percent, interest. There was also an unfunded debt consisting of state treasury bills amounting to 7,698,210. The expenses of the French war were far more than covered by the indemnity, while the various invested funds of the empire amounted to 37,390,523. Besides Prussia, each of the German states has its own special debt. In all these amounted to about 170 millions, most of this sum having been borrowed for the construction of railways, so that the actual burden is comparatively small. Thus the total debt of the empire and of the states composing it is only a little over 300 millions. It is difficult to obtain any trustworthy figures as to the debt of Russia. Russia. The history of its finance is a history of almost continual deficits, largely covered since the time of Catherine II. by the issue of paper roubles, which at her death amounted to about 30 million pounds sterling, and in 1817 to 125 millions. The total debt was first stated for 1853, when it was given as 125 millions, including paper-money. In 1858, after the Crimean War, it was 240 millions, and in 1869, including the floating debt, 300 millions. In 1880 it was estimated at 640 millions, one-third of which was paper roubles. Were the depreciated rouble taken at par, the sum would be nearly half as much again. The interest on the debt in 1880 amounted to 17 millions, and in the budget for 1882 the total charge of the debt was set down at over 28 millions. In 1876 the debt of Turkey stood at 296 millions, but since then, Turkey, by a process of reduction, it has been brought down to 150 millions, besides an internal debt estimated at 20 millions. The united kingdom of Italy began in 1860 with a debt of 97 Italy, million pounds sterling, which, mainly through continual deficits, but partly by the construction of railways, had grown to 446^ millions in 1881, with a net interest of 17 millions, a heavy burden on one of the poorest countries of Europe. Like Austria, Spain has been a country of constant deficits, Spain, combined with frequent repudiations and chronic inability to meet the claims of creditors. Spain was deeply in debt so long ago as the 16th century ; the amount in 1745 was 9 millions sterling, which was repudiated by Ferdinand VI. A commission in 1822 reported the debt at 140 millions, but in 1822 a second junta reduced it to 52 millions. In 1851, with the floating debt, the amount was 113 millions, one half of which was declared passive, bearing no interest. In twenty years this had more than doubled, being in 1870 237,400,000, with an annual charge of 6,735,000. In 1881 the capital sum had increased to 512 millions, but by a pro cess of conversion this was to be reduced to 240 millions, according to official statement, bearing an annual charge of 9, 500, 000. Portugal has for its size a large debt, the result also of vicious Portugal, financial administration. It began in 1796 with 900,000, which in 1854 rose to 20 millions, in 1866 to 43 millions, in 1871j to 64,333,000, and in 1881 to 97,512,000, with an annual charge of 3,065,285. Greece began her independence by becoming a debtor in 1824 Greece, for 800,000, and her borrowings since have loaded the little kingdom with a debt of 15 millions, the interest on which has never been regularly and fully paid. Part of the debt is guaran teed by England, France, and Russia. The debt of Holland began in the 16th and 17th centuries in her Holland, struggle with Spain and wars with England, and in 1778 the Dutch were oppressed with a debt of 62 millions, which by 1814 had risen to 144 millions, the annual charge per head of population being over 30s. By 1851 the capital was reduced to 102^ millions, which has gone on steadily decreasing, and in 1882 the capital sum was 78,442,370, with an annual interest of 2,419,222, being about 12s. per head, though the revenue of the state railways makes it somewhat less. A sinking fund of 833,000 is annually devoted to the redemption of the debt. The debt of Belgium began with 10 Belgium, millions taken over from Holland after 1830, which, after growing to 39 millions and again falling by the operation of the sinking fund to 24,400,000 in 1865, has since steadily grown to about 72 millions in 1882, including the railway purchases, the annuities granted for which represent about 13 millions. Most of the remainder of the debt is covered by the proceeds of the various public works for which it has been raised. The debt of Denmark was 4,150,000 in 1821. Partly through Den- deficits, partly through war with Prussia, and partly owing to the mark, construction of state railways, this grew to 14,862,465 in 1865. This declined to 9,629,257 in 1880, but subsequent loans raised it to over 11 millions in 1882, the annual charge being 554,400. So much of the debt, however, is caused by productive investments that the annual burden is only 2s. a head. Only 700,000 of the debt is external. The existing debt of Sweden began with a railway loan of Sweden. 1,228,575 in 1858, and nearly all her subsequent loans have been contracted for similar purposes, the total debt in 1882 being 12 millions. So much of this is covered by the proceeds of the railways that the annual burden is less than 9d. per head of population.